After a little playtime with Apple’s new products Wednesday, the bloggers and tech reporters who cover Cupertino wrote positive reviews, but nothing seemed to make anyone pause and say wow.
The hands-on reviews and observations of the new Apple TV, the iPad Pro and iPhone 6s were measured praises of what may come later, the story appears to be more about evolution than revelation.
For every new product reveal Apple holds, the company gives journalists a chance to do a hands-on inspection of the new devices. They can demo some of the functions but otherwise must wait a few weeks before they can spend quality time with a product for an in-depth user experience.
Maybe Apple is so good at innovation, it’s getting tougher to impress.
“As for performance, it’s unsurprisingly great,” The Verge’s Nilay Patel said after trying out the beefed-up Apple TV. “Overall, it’s a welcome – and meaningful – upgrade to the Apple TV, but there’s nothing in this first look that makes it seem like it’s going to usher in a massive TV revolution.”
Apple seems confident it can get us all to trade in our old iPads for the newly unveiled iPad Pro, which allows for multitasking and can be partnered with an optional keyboard. Once David Pierce of Wired got over iPad Pro’s 12.9-inch size, he called it great.
Photo: Apple
“The question will be, is it great for you?” Pierce wrote. “The iPad is still a tablet, and running iOS means it’s still going to be a little clunky. Using word, I found myself wishing I had all my keyboard and mouse shortcuts handy and didn’t have to keep picking up the Pencil or tapping the screen. And if we learned anything from the (Microsoft Surface), it’s that the world might not be ready for this type of device just yet.”
Pierce was equally kind and cautious on his impressions of the iPhone 6s, which is the same in design from the 6, but has several new features like 3D Touch, a 12-megapixel camera, 4K video and Live Picture, which records 1.5 seconds of video and turns a still photo into something a little more animated.
“But the photos and videos I’ve seen look insane,” he said. “Like, incredible. But again, hard to say for sure what they’ll be like in the real world.”
The Verge’s Dieter Hohn praised the iPhone 6s as great but seems to be looking past it with greater expectations for an iPhone 7.
“So the big question: should you upgrade? At this point, I feel like it’s an academic question with iPhones,” Hohn wrote. “If you need a new iPhone, get this one. If you have an iPhone 6 or are otherwise happy with your iPhone, you don’t really have to.”
USA Today’s Jefferson Graham seemed to write with a sharper edge than most about the iPhone 6s. He seems to be tired of hearing the “best ever” claims each time Apple shows off a newer version of a gadget.
“Apple spent over 40 minutes Wednesday doing a high-intensity sales job on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which it flames was the most advance and best ever iPhone,” Graham said. “They always say that. It’s that this year, it didn’t seem like Apple had the goods to prove it. So last year’s model was the best iPhone ever – how do you top it? You don’t. As consumers, we just have to come to terms with that.”
He ended his review with a prediction: Apple will roll out an iPhone 7 next year and it will be the “most advanced, best, revolutionary” iPhone ever.
David Pierini is a former newspaper writer and long-time photographer. Considered a luddite by most of his friends, they did not believe him when he broke the news that he would be writing for a technology website. He is fascinated by human nature and would love to cultivate stories about the people driving the tech bus. Reach out to him at [email protected].
12 responses to “First blush not exactly first gush for new Apple products”
I feel like Jefferson Graham should understand, being a writer, that it quite literally means Apple introduces the “greatest” thing they can each year. Because each device is consistently better than the last. So while that may be a marketing gimmick, it’s also quite factual. Bless his heart, though. I mean if he’s tired of hearing it, by all means, Apple should adjust to his liking. That’s totally how things work.
“Because each device is consistently better than the last. So while that may be a marketing gimmick, it’s also quite factual.”
You mean like the iPad Air that became the first iPad to not receive an update?
Apple should totally make the iPhone 7 not as good as the iPhone 6S, because tech bloggers are so tired of Apple’s “best ever” schtick. Or something.
I bet they don’t tire of Samsung’s “best ever” new models. Or any other manufacturer’s not named Apple.
Jefferson Graham is the definition of what it means to be blasé. The man has seen everything, he can look forward to a comfortable retirement now.
You might want to correct Dieter’s last name…
I have to agree with Graham, it’s all a marketing ploy…I say that for all companies not just apple. It better be the “best ever” otherwise you are wasting my time. That said I didn’t see anything announced that would make me trade in my iPhone 6 or buy an iPad Pro.
Let me ask you this. If you currently owned an iPhone 5, would you upgrade to an iPhone 6 or an iPhone 6s? Now based on your answer, isn’t the iPhone 6s the best iPhone yet?
I would upgrade to the iPhone 6 because it will be cheaper and in my opinion the 6s is not that big of an improvement to justify the higher price. That doesn’t change the fact that the newest version of a device better be the “best ever” because if it isn’t the company has failed.
You failure to appreciate 3DTouch is mystifying. It is a significant change to the UI that promises to make daily use much more frictionless.
However, given that the new device is made of much stronger aluminum, has more scratch resistant glass, is twice as fast in every metric, has better motion tracking, and has much improved cameras, I’d say it has easily earned the moniker of best iPhone ever. In fact, I would agree with the statement that it is the best smartphone ever.
3DTouch is currently being tested via jailbreak tweaks for older iPhones, which implies Apple is simply excluding it from older devices to sell newer ones. The increase in performance, although welcome, is expected in a newer device; as is the better camera. In my opinion those improvements are not groundbreaking.
As far as the iPhone being the best smartphone, I don’t know, there are quite a few android devices out there that I like just as well and are much less expensive.
You’re misinformed. 3DTouch requires pressure sensors embedded in the touchscreen. Older iPhones do not have the necessary sensors to support 3DTouch.
Any jailbreak imitation of this feature is some sort of cheat that won’t work the same way. My guess is that it will use long presses to invoke the peek and pop functionality. Not the same. Not as good.
One thing is definitely true: It is much more difficult for Apple to keep packing new cool, relevant features into its products than it is for smug, self-important tech journalists to proclaim “meh”.
The simple facts are these:
The new iPad Pro and iPhone 6s are technical and design tours de force. The new iPad Mini 4, a product that just two years ago would have caused mass hysteria, barely even rated a mention by Apple. Just Crazy. Apple Pencil and 3DTouch deliver meaningful user interface enhancements that will delight millions of users on a daily basis.
The new Apple TV will be a fantastic addition to the living room. It has only just begun to bring the disparate elements of home entertainment together in a unified, low-friction experience. The future looks very bright.
The Apple Watch is the best wearable money can buy and it just keeps getting better.
Tech pundits have been spoiled rotten by Apple’s unrelenting drive to make ever better products.